A man armed with a machete has been shot dead after attacking soldiers in the Belgian capital. An hour later in London, two police officers were assaulted by a man with a large sword outside Buckingham Palace
Belgian police on Friday said they had “neutralized” a man suspected of attacking three soldiers with a machete.
“A man armed with a knife attacked a group of soldiers. The soldiers fired at him and neutralized the individual,” said Jonathan Pfunde, a spokesman for Belgium’s Federal Police.
Prosecutors later said the suspected assailant was dead, without saying whether he died at the scene.
Earlier reports suggested the 30-year-old Belgian of Somali origin had survived the shooting but remained in a critical condition after being shot in the face and on the hand. Two of the soldiers received minor injuries from the attack and the third was hospitalized.
Tourism area sealed off
The soldiers were attacked on Boulevard Emile Jacqmain in the center of the Belgian capital at about 8:15 p.m. local time (18:15 UTC).
The street, not far from Brussel’s main Grand Place tourist attraction, was sealed off.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel tweeted: “All our support is with our soldiers. Our security services remain on alert. We are following the situation closely.”
Soldiers have been deployed to the streets of Brussels following last year’s multi-pronged terrorist attack in the city, which hit the airport and a metro station and left 32 dead.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office said later on Friday evening: “We believe that it is a terrorist attack.” She said the man had shouted “Allahu Akbar” twice before launching his assault.
As the attack appeared to be an isolated incident, Brussels Mayor Philip Close said there would be no change to the country’s terror alert status, already just one off the maximum level.
London assault
About an hour later, two police officers were attacked outside Buckingham Palace in London, police said.
The officers were lightly injured on their arms while arresting a man in possession of a 1.2-meter (4-foot) sword. Police said the man, like the attacker in Belgium, was heard repeatedly shouting “Allahu Akbar” (“God is greatest”) during a struggle before he was incapacitated with pepper spray.
The police officers’ injuries were treated at the scene and no one else was hurt, police said. The sword was said to have been in the front passenger foot well of the man’s car, which he had first driven at a police van.
The 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of “grievous bodily harm and assault on police,” as well as terrorism.
Commander Dean Haydon from the Counter Terrorism Command later said in a statement that authorities believed the man was acting alone, but that the attack was being treated as a terrorist incident.
The assault happened in the Mall, the wide road that runs from Tralfagar Square to Queen Elizabeth’s official London residence.
Social media users in London shared images of a large police presence in the area.
